International Commissions of Inquiry in a Networked World: Unveiling the Roles of Diasporas through an Eritrean Case Study

Computer Systems, Imagery and Medi

Overseas remittances support universal health coverage and quality of healthcare

Prof Dr Mirjam van Reisen, Dr. Mia Stokmans, Wenqing Yin, Tilburg [email protected]@uvt.nl                                             [email protected] Title: Overseas Remittances supportUniversal Health Coverage and Quality of Healthcare Background: Overseas remittances are animportant resource for financing of healthcare services in low-incomecommunities. Financial support by extended family affect interactions athealthcare facilities. They are crucial for the attainment of SustainableDevelopment Goal 3. Literature review suggests that remittance-flows havepositive impact on the quality of health care; clients are part of socialnetworks and remitters are active influencers in such networks. Remittersengage in the situation the patient is facing.Methods: We test a remitter-inclusiveapproach to information-sharing in healthcare. We investigate how this sharing increasesthe decisions on healthcare services. We hypothesize that sharing ofinformation contributes to a more positive Western-oriented health orientation,also in Africa.Results: Healthcare is rarely an individualaffair. Langen[1]described a paradigm clash of Western healthcare with traditional Africanapproaches. Hence, bridging of health care paradigms is important. Remitters,living overseas, are immersed in the context of Western-based health care. Theyrefer to their understanding, experience and knowledge of such care. Remittersthat contribute directly to the patient’s challenge are influential. They are trustedsources of information. Their knowledge augments local information sources. Inthe process of sending remittances for health, relatives in the diaspora discusshealth-issues within social groupings. Experiences, expectations, and health-relatedinformation are exchanged. These exchanges shift attributed values and communalattitudes towards the health-services and the local knowledge base of thehealth-challenges at hand.  Conclusions and Recommendations: Involvementof overseas remitters in information exchange on options of patients canimprove the quality of the decision-making and their remittances can contributeto expand health-coverage and quality of healthcare. Keywords: training,HR4H, eHealth  [1] Langen, Eveline. 2010. Diverging Worldviews, Diverging Worlds?Wageningen University.Computer Systems, Imagery and Medi

Maslow’s Theory of Human Motivation and its Deep Roots in Individualism: Interrogating Maslow’s Applicability in Africa

Computer Systems, Imagery and Medi

Towards the tipping point of FAIR implementation

This article explores the global implementation of the FAIR Guiding Principles for scientific management and data stewardship, which provide that data should be findable, accessible, interoperable and reusable. The implementation of these principles is designed to lead to the stewardship of data as FAIR digital objects and the establishment of the Internet of FAIR Data and Services (IFDS). If implementation reaches a tipping point, IFDS has the potential to revolutionize how data is managed by making machine and human readable data discoverable for reuse. Accordingly, this article examines the expansion of the implementation of FAIR Guiding Principles, especially how and in which geographies (locations) and areas (topic domains) implementation is taking place. A literature review of academic articles published between 2016 and 2019 on the use of FAIR Guiding Principles is presented. The investigation also includes an analysis of the domains in the IFDS Implementation Networks (INs). Its uptake has been mainly in the Western hemisphere. The investigation found that implementation of FAIR Guiding Principles has taken firm hold in the domain of bio and natural sciences. To achieve a tipping point for FAIR implementation, is now time to ensure the inclusion of non-European ascendants and of other scientific domains. Apart from equal opportunity and genuine global partnership issues, a permanent European bias poses challenges with regard to the representativeness and validity of data and could limit the potential of IFDS to reach across continental boundaries. The article concludes that, despite efforts to be inclusive, acceptance of the FAIR Guiding Principles and IFDS in different scientific communities is limited and there is a need to act now to prevent dampening of the momentum in the development and implementation of the IFDS. It is further concluded that policy entrepreneurs and the GO FAIR INs may contribute to making the FAIR Guiding Principles more flexible in including different research epistemologies, especially through its GO CHANGE pillar. LIACS-Managemen

Increased Avian Diversity Is Associated with Lower Incidence of Human West Nile Infection: Observation of the Dilution Effect

Recent infectious disease models illustrate a suite of mechanisms that can result in lower incidence of disease in areas of higher disease host diversity–the ‘dilution effect’. These models are particularly applicable to human zoonoses, which are infectious diseases of wildlife that spill over into human populations. As many recent emerging infectious diseases are zoonoses, the mechanisms that underlie the ‘dilution effect’ are potentially widely applicable and could contribute greatly to our understanding of a suite of diseases. The dilution effect has largely been observed in the context of Lyme disease and the predictions of the underlying models have rarely been examined for other infectious diseases on a broad geographic scale. Here, we explored whether the dilution effect can be observed in the relationship between the incidence of human West Nile virus (WNV) infection and bird (host) diversity in the eastern US. We constructed a novel geospatial contrasts analysis that compares the small differences in avian diversity of neighboring US counties (where one county reported human cases of WNV and the other reported no cases) with associated between-county differences in human disease. We also controlled for confounding factors of climate, regional variation in mosquito vector type, urbanization, and human socioeconomic factors that are all likely to affect human disease incidence. We found there is lower incidence of human WNV in eastern US counties that have greater avian (viral host) diversity. This pattern exists when examining diversity-disease relationships both before WNV reached the US (in 1998) and once the epidemic was underway (in 2002). The robust disease-diversity relationships confirm that the dilution effect can be observed in another emerging infectious disease and illustrate an important ecosystem service provided by biodiversity, further supporting the growing view that protecting biodiversity should be considered in public health and safety plans